Emirates Team NZ update - AC72 makes debut in San Francisco

Emirates Team New Zealand
took the AC72 sailing on San Francisco Bay for the first
time today.

Sailing crew, designers and technicians
checked systems in preparation for the resumption tomorrow
of the on-the-water build-up for the start of the Louis
Vuitton Cup in the first week of July.

Today the breeze
was light – from five to 15 knots. The AC72 was on the Bay
for two hours. Tomorrow’s forecast is for light breeze in
the morning, building to 16-20 knots in the
afternoon.

Luna Rossa and Oracle also sailed
today.

Hitting the water today – May 23 in San Francisco
– was a target set three months ago.

Back at the base,
Grant Dalton said: “A great day, no issues at all. The
guys know their jobs, the systems work and even though we
have made significant changes since Auckland, we always
expected the boat to pop put of the box.

“It was
perfect. Oracle was out there; Luna Rossa was out there. The
boys got straight into it - foiling across the face of the
Golden Gate Bridge -something we have had in mind for a
couple of years.

“So now we get into it properly
tomorrow.”

Skipper Dean Barker was also pleased with the
first day. “It was good to get out there and get a feel
for the Bay. There was not much breeze by San Francisco
standards, but enough on the first day.

“We have made a
lot of changes to the boat since Auckland. Everything will
be checked overnight and we will be back on the water
tomorrow.”

He said the shore crew and logistics people
had done a remarkable job moving the base from Auckland to
San Francisco in a compressed time frame. “Now we can
think about going
racing.”

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